Vyjack Moves West to D'Amato

Pick Six Racing's Vyjack gave a good first account of himself June 23 for new trainer Phil D'Amato.

The three-time graded stakes-winning Into Mischief   gelding, previously trained on the East Coast by Bill Mott, logged a half-mile drill in :47 2/5 Thursday morning at Santa Anita Park, the fastest of 68 works at the distance in his first move for the California-based horseman.

"He did it as easy as one could do it," D'Amato said of the workout.

D'Amato, who has had the 6-year-old for about a week, said the plan is to point Vyjack to a race at Del Mar, although he's unsure of which race will prove the best fit. The gelding was nominated for the seven-furlong Triple Bend (gr. I) at Santa Anita June 25, but was not entered.

"We don't know yet," D'Amato said of a potential race target. "The owners have given me carte blanche to get to know him and find the best spot for him."

Vyjack—who was a stakes winner at 2, won the 2013 Jerome (gr. II) and Gotham (gr. III) at 3, and was victorious in 2014 Kelso (gr. II) at 4, all for trainer Rudy Rodriguez—went winless in seven 2015 starts, but was victorious in his 6-year-old debut, a turf allowance at Keeneland in April. He followed that effort with a runner-up finish, just a neck behind Middleburg, in the Red Bank Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Monmouth Park June 5.